A Present for the Commander
by Aleron's Sword
Summary: A one-shot birthday present for an author of a popular series.


**Happy Birthday EC! I hope you like this b-day gift. =)**

**Beta-Reader: NanoCarp**

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_A Present for the Commander_

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The Element Commander's house, September 25, 2011

Today, was like any other day. Sun shining, birds singing...

Na, screw that.

It was cloudy, with the birds staying in their nests, tending to their young. A few cars sped down the roads of the small town, the occupants doing their daily things in life. A few were on the sidewalks, their destinations not far from them.

One house, in particular, was pretty much the same. The currently alone resident wasn't like the rest of the people. He was leaning back in his chair, relaxing a bit after recently posting a chapter of his popular story, We Are the Smashers. The teen had a moderate tan with black hair, along with semi-bright brown eyes. His blue hoodie, with the hood down, was over his red t-shirt, effectively shielding him from the cold air outside leaking in. Bright-blue jeans, with a pair of brown tennis shoes, covered the lower half of his body. On top of his head were a pair of blue glasses, with a pair of darker lenses if the sun was shining. Mounted in a glass case next to his desk was a golden sword, with the words 'Golden Light, property of The Element Commander' etched into the base of it.

Currently, he was thinking on how to proceed with his story, mainly on which worlds his character would go to. He had several in mind, but just couldn't think of the order to put them in.

Outside his house, a small orb of light appeared in the middle of his front yard. It lifted itself up off the ground until it was past the seven foot mark. The orb then split, the duo tracing a circular shape in the air. After the orbs merged into one again at the base of the circle, the orb vanished, but not the circle of light. Shortly after, the Yin Yang patterns started to fade in, spinning quickly. It started to slow the more opaque it became, coming to a halt after there was no hint of transparency left.

The logo split, opening much like a sci-fi door, as a lone figure stepped out. The figure, around the mid-teens, had jet-black hair, with nearly color-swapped skin. He wore a checkered long-sleeved, black and white shirt, with a pair of katana stitched in the middle. His black jeans had multiple pouches on both legs, totaling around eighteen. Strapped to the waist were a pair of handles, one blue and yellow, another a gray-brown and red.

After stepping out, the door closed and turned into smoke, leaving no trace of it behind. The teen reached down and opened one of the pouches, pulling a small PDA device out of it after. He lightly tapped the screen, lighting it up and displaying a map of the area. A red dot, along with a blue one were in the middle of the screen, the blue in the middle of the house.

"Okay, got the right place this time." the teen said, shutting the device down and putting it back.

He then started walking towards the front door at a calm pace, a small smile on his face. After reaching the door, he pressed the doorbell button, a chime sounding out inside.

The EC's attention was pulled from his relaxation at the sound of his doorbell ringing. He set his chair back onto all four legs and got up. He exited his room and walked carefully down the stairs. After reaching the base of the stairs, he casually walked towards the front door and peeked through a small glass hole in the door. Even though the view was slightly distorted, he was surprised on who was at the door.

"Sword?" he asked, slightly off-guard by the sudden visit.

"Hey EC. Surprised to see me?" Sword answered, still holding the smile.

"Uh, yeah. What are you doing here though?"

"Ain't today obvious?"

"Oh yeah, my birthday."

"Well, first though, gonna let me in?" Sword kindly asked.

"Oh, right. Come in, come in." EC said, unlocking and opening the door.

After the door was fully opened, Sword stepped through and, followed EC. They both walked into the living room and sat down in separate chairs. It was then that the EC noticed something.

"Hey, where's that Yin-Yang Blade you always carry around?" he questioned, slightly confused on why said item was missing.

"Oh that? I left it back at my studio, after making sure it's locked up tighter than Fort Knox." Sword answered.

-0-

At Sword's Studio...

"Just how the hell was Sword able to get a system like this? Even GENE's top scientists would be stumped…" one female asked, dumbfounded.

"How should we know? I bet that casing would stand strong even after my best punches or kicks." a male teen answered.

"That, and you'll be fried when you make contact with it. He must be _really_ protective of that blade."

-0-

Back at the duo...

"Ya know, I think this is the first time I've seen you without that blade on your back." the EC commented.

"Yep, although having the duo around was nice, I felt that they needed to sit this one out." Sword replied.

The EC was about to ask something else until he noticed the hilts on Sword's belt.

"Hey, I have to ask." he started, slightly pointing at the hilts. "What are those for? The handles?"

"Oh these?" Sword answered, taking both handles off his belt. "Well, first though, do you have an arena of sorts?"

"I guess. It's in the basement though." the EC answered, getting up from his spot and walking towards a door at the other end of the room. He opened it and flipped a switch, which turned on a light for some stairs leading down. Sword got up from his spot and followed the EC down them. After half a minute of walking, they both came into a dark room. After flipping another switch, stadium lights flashed on, temporarily blinding the duo.

Blinking the light away, Sword's jaw started to slack a little. Inside was an arena alright, but it was massive. Two pairs of stadium lights were in the corners of the room, casting plenty of light in the room. The center was a small field of dirt and gravel, with a few patterns spread around. The walls were made out of reinforced concrete, though they bore deep gashes and scorch marks in spots.

"Daaaaammmn….…" Sword whispered, clearly impressed.

"You like it?" EC asked, a grin on his face. "I come down here to train myself when I'm not busy on my story."

"The walls pretty much told me that part of the story."

"So, yeah, I do have an arena. Question is, why?"

Sword unstrapped the gray-brown/red handle from his belt and handed it to EC.

"Stand at the other side, hit the small button in the blade guard, and you'll find out." Sword said, unstrapping the blue/yellow handle.

"Okay…" EC answered, grabbing the handle as asked.

Walking down to the other end of the arena, he got into position and did as told, pressing a small button on the blade guard in the center. The button started to blink, purple in color, going faster as seconds go by. Thinking it was a bomb of sorts, panicked and dropped the handle on the ground, then proceeded to shield himself from a blast. Said blast never came and a laugh echoed out.

"Yeah, forgot to mention the button flashes like that of a bomb." Sword called out. "Sorry!"

Uncovering himself, EC then looked at the handle he dropped and arced an eyebrow at it. A line of gray-brown smoke was coming out of the handle, taking shape of a regular blade. Bits of it drifted off, but it still maintained its shape, making his eyebrow arc higher.

"Don't worry, it's not an actual bomb. It won't blow up." Sword called out again.

Picking up the handle, EC noticed that the smoke held its shape, though still with bits drifting off as it moved. This prompted him to swing the 'sword', more bits of the smoke drifting off, but still held its shape regardless.

"Okay, this is…cool!" he said, pretty amazed.

"You like it? Had to tweak them a few times, but I was able to make it to where the smoke holds the shape together." Sword explained. He then suddenly took a battle stance, his smoke-blade held much like Yang would. "You ready?"

"Ready for what?"

"A spar, as well as your birthday present." Sword simply said, charging straight at EC.

Said person was caught off-guard by the sudden aggression and tried to block. The smoke-blades connected, stopping like they were made of solid matter. Sword's 'blade', however, managed to nick EC a bit on the arm. The smoke from the blade clung to his skin and formed a small patch of blue fur. Sword jumped back a bit as he dodged a retaliating strike.

After making sure that he was safe at the moment, EC readied his blade, only to see the patch of fur. Another eyebrow arced, he got a small grip on the fur and pulled, only to find it attached.

"What the…? Is this real fur?" he asked to no-one in particular.

"Yeah, it is." Sword answered. "Didn't want to waste time explaining the whole thing, but the short story is that the smoke from these can change someone on contact, mainly into pokémon."

"What? You mean we're in a battle to keep our humanity?" EC asked, a bit concerned and confused as well.

Sword held up one finger with his eyes closed. "Not quite," he answered. "even though these blades can change you physically, they won't do any mental changes. That, and the changes are temporary, so you have nothing to worry about." Sword opened his eyes and readied his smoke-blade again. "Basically, a bit of a game here. Whoever is the last to be fully changed, wins. Anything goes, so show me what you got."

EC relaxed significantly upon the explanation, now determined to win the game at hand. "Well then…" He readied his blade with a firmer grip, a grin now on his face "Let's do this!"

"Right, but before we fully do though…" Sword put his blade down and reached for the blades on his shirt. His hands sunk into the shirt and grabbed hold of the twin blades in it, then pulled them out. He then swung around and threw them like knives, sticking them in the walls.

"Okay, now we can… **!**" Sword started, only to get a face full of dark purple smoke. He jumped and pushed EC away, all the while grabbing his smoke-blade and backing up.

"Okay, that was low!" he yelled, the smoke clearing and revealing a fox-like head, dark purple fur covering it with some red fur growing behind his head. "I was getting rid of the real blades and you had to do a sneak attack on me!"

"Heh, jokes on you since you said anything goes in this." EC snickered.

"Oh…right…" Sword said, doing a small face-palm, which was slightly difficult due to his new face. "But first, I think some music would go nicely with this…" he pulled out his i-pod, along with some mini-speakers for it and turned it on.

**[OC Remix #2194: Battle for the Badge]**

"There we go!" Both swordsmen said at the same time.

"Lets go!" they said at the same time again, lunging at each other.

They met in the center, smoke-blade meeting smoke-blade, stopping them fully. They both were grunting, neither giving an inch. Sword then pushed harder, making EC's feet start to skid across the ground. EC's eyes grew a little and he started putting more force into his guard, stopping him and putting both of them in a stalemate again. A second later, they both leaped away from each other and then charged again, smoke flying around them as blow after blow was exchanged, none landing.

After another strike failed for both of them, EC then swept his legs, throwing Sword off his feet. This was enough time for him to land a strike across Sword's shoulders. After the smoke cleared, there was black fur around his neck and shoulders. Landing hard, Sword swung his smoke-blade, getting EC in the feet, who stumbled as they changed stance.

EC stumbled a bit trying to back away, not exactly used to his sudden change in standing. He found it weird that he was able to stand like a natural, despite having paws for feet now. He flexed each 'toe', trying to get used to the feelings.

"So, have you guess what we're becoming yet?" Sword asked after leaping up and away from his opponent.

"Yeah, I'm becoming a Lucario, while you're turning into a Zoroark, correct?" EC answered, swinging his sword a little.

"Yup, that's right."

Lunging again, Sword tried a different approach as he flipped himself over and attached the blade to one of his shoes. He then started to pull off dance moves, effectively swinging the blade madly that put EC on the defensive. Sword continued the attacks for a full minute, until he flipped himself back over and grabbed his blade. He then swung hard, barely giving EC enough time to block. He struck his left arm, which in turn got coated with the blue smoke, turning it into a lucario's arm, complete with the spike on the back of the hand. EC jumped back, just dodging another slash from Sword.

Another moment of weird feelings as he moved his arm along with the now paw-like fingers, he started having second thoughts about the whole fight.

"Man, you're good, I'll give you that." EC said, flourishing his blade.

"Same to you, dude. Same to you." Sword replied, mimicking EC as well.

Wanting to try something else, EC focused a bit of his energy into his temporary new left hand. The energy condensed into a small orb, growing larger rather quickly. He then focused a second energy into it, turning the orb red, the air shimmering around it. He then reared the arm back and 'threw' the orb at Sword, who was caught off-guard by the orb exploding into a fireball in his face.

_'Yes! It works!'_ he mentally cheered, fist-pumping as well.

After the smoke cleared, Sword was seen standing there, covered in soot from the explosion, a small flame on top of him and anime-style wide eyes. He licked a couple of his fingers and pressed them on the small flame, extinguishing it.

"That was…something…" Sword said, shaking the soot off.

"Heheh, there's a reason why they call me the 'Element Commander', and you just seen it." EC said, chuckling.

"Yeah, now I know to not hold back anymore." Sword responded, readying his blade and shooting off towards EC.

They both collided, coming into yet another stalemate. This time though, EC started gathering another small orb, sparks flying off it while Sword readied an orb of his own, the black half of the Yin-Yang logo spinning in it. They then slammed the orbs together, triggering an electrifying explosion. Both of them were sent flying back, though recovering in mid-flight and landing on their feet.

"Heh, now isn't this quite fun, eh?" Sword asked.

"Yeah, that it is." EC answered, readying another fire orb. After it was fully charged, he spun around to add momentum to the throw, making it speed like a bullet down the field.

"That again? Well then, BATTER UP!" Sword held his blade like a bat and swung it, hitting the orb dead-on and sending it screaming back. EC was caught off-guard by this and just swung his blade madly. By luck, he was able to send it flying back, in which the process repeated it self a few more times, EC getting the upper-hand while Sword was struggling to keep up.

After sending the fireball back again, Sword readied another orb and threw it, just after EC sent his back. The orbs met in mid-flight, the fireball going much faster and exploded in Sword's direction. He just barely crossed his arms to shield himself and was pushed back into a wall, the fire heavily scorching it.

When the smoke cleared, Sword wasn't standing there, or anywhere. EC panicked a little, thinking he just incinerated one of his friends. However, against the scorched wall, a pair of eyes opened and blinked twice, then a human figure, a more heavily soot covered Sword, stepped away from it.

"Okay, I think I'm getting tired of getting covered in soot… WAH!" he couldn't finish as EC just slashed him from the shoulders down to his left foot.

Sword retaliated by slashing EC's head, turning it into a lucario one. He leaped back and did a small double-take. He brought one of his hands up and grabbed hold of one of the new appendages hanging off the side of his head. He also noticed that his ears were now at the top of his head.

After he was done, he lunged as Sword was doing the same. Half-lucario and half-zoroark, determined on winning. Sword was readying another orb in his left hand, but EC reacted by slashing it, turning it into a trio-clawed hand. Sword countered by doing a slash at EC much like the one he received, going from the left shoulder down the right foot, completing another portion of his changes.

Looking down, EC was a little surprised to see a spike poking out the center of his chest and lightly poked it. He felt the spike move, tugging on a new set of nerves inside it. He also looked down and seen his changed leg, noticing that it felt much stronger than before.

So far, EC has his left arm, right leg, both feet, left shoulder, and head changed, while Sword has his left hand, leg and foot, and head changed, along with the shoulders.

"So, you enjoying your present so far?" Sword asked, lunging again.

They came to yet another stalemate, grins on their faces instead of determination.

"Yeah, loving it!" EC answered, jumping back and slashing at Sword's right leg, changing it as well. Taking advantage of him reeling back, he slashed at the torso, completing the changes to the body. All that was left human on Sword were the arms and the right hand.

_'Okay, not gonna leave myself open like that again.'_ Sword sweat-dropped, noticing on how close he was to losing.

EC smirked a little, a little happy to be winning. "Well, this was fun, but I think it's time to end this."

He lunged yet again, but Sword was ready. He side-stepped, EC shooting past him. He took advantage of the passing to get the left leg, completing the lower body changes. Landing a little roughly, EC rolled a bit and stopped, his left hand holding himself up.

"You were saying?" Sword smirked as EC was picking himself up. "Hate to say it, but it seems like I'm winning."

"Wha-? How?" EC questioned, now fully standing. "All that's left of you are the arms."

"True, but it's the mane you're forgetting about." Sword replied, closing his eyes and pointing to the back of his head. "You're forgetting that since I'm becoming a Zoroark, I would have that long mane behind me and…"

EC took advantage of the gloating and ran full speed at Sword. He realized that he was much faster than before due to his new legs. As he was behind Sword in less than a second, he jabbed the blade to the back of his head, making the mane Sword was mentioning, complete with the teal bead at the end.

Sword didn't finish as he felt a sudden weight on his head. He whipped around and noticed that said mane was there, along with EC who had a big grin on his face.

"Oh you cheeky b*****d…" he muttered under his breath.

"Looks like I'm winning now." EC mocked, chuckling a little as he flipped back and threw another, although weak, shock orb. Sword couldn't ready himself in time and was hit. After a small spasm, all the fur stood straight out, making him look like a walking poodle as his eyes bugged out. EC gasped a little, then started chuckling, a goofy grin on his face, then burst out laughing, dropping to the floor at Sword's ridiculous look.

"AAHAHAHAHAA!" EC laughed, rolling on the floor as he started to tear up from laughing.

Sword blushed in embarrassment, but the fur prevented it from showing. He then shook himself, setting the fur back into place.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up why don't ya." he called out, picking up his blade that he dropped when shocked.

EC was able to stop laughing, though with difficulty. He wiped away the tears and picked himself back up, wielding his blade and ready for the last few strikes needed. Sword, after making sure all the fur was back in place, held his blade with both hands over his shoulder, pointing forward. EC did almost the same, except holding it with only one hand and over his head and his left arm in front of his body, spike facing out.

They held their stances, neither of them moving for a full minute. After the time passed, they both charged at each other, yelling along the way. When they were less than five yards away from each other, Sword did a small jump and spun in the air, adding momentum to his down-leftward swing while EC brought his down below his left arm and swung right-upwards.

**[Song ends]**

They both passed each other, holding their after-swing stances. Sword's knees were buckled a little, EC as well. The smoke from the smoke-blades were gone, the smoke now moving around on both of their bodies, changing the human parts into pokemon. Half a minute later, the smoke covered the rest of both of their bodies. After the last spot of skin was covered, they both dropped to their knees, handles dropping to the floor.

"Man, seems like I lost…" they both said at the same time. They jolted a bit and turned around, seeing each other.

"So, I guess this ends in a draw?" EC asked.

"Yup, that it does." Sword answered, getting up onto his feet.

After getting up, they both started looking over their bodies – EC more than Sword due to his unfamiliarity to being transformed – for a few minutes.

When they were done, they both turned to each other and shook hands, er, paws. EC the Lucario and Sword the Zoroark, smiled to each other and looked over themselves a bit more before looking up again.

"Well," EC said, "I certainly didn't expect this! Sword, thank you for this...thrilling and strange birthday gift!"

"Please, don't mention it." Sword replied, holding up his paws, "It was all a random act of kindness. A friend deserves something special, don't you think?"

The Lucario chuckled a bit and shrugged. "Ah, I can tell this is going to be another interesting twelve months for me. This spar really is just the beginning of another hectic and crazy year. Random act of kindness, hm? You seem to have planned this out somehow. I doubt it was random." EC finished that sentence with a smirk.

"Heheh. Well, it was the least I could do." Sword said, "You supplied the fanfiction world with a great and humorous story, and thousands of people enjoyed it. Surely I must do something in return, right?"

"You didn't have to," EC said, "but I greatly appreciate it! This is my first birthday present from an author, and I enjoyed it very much! Thanks a very large bundle! And before I know it, another year would have passed, and I'll be sixteen then. I'm now halfway through my teenager years, and this is by far one of my most life-changing moments. I'm glad there are some people like you out there who care about me. I first came here to improve my writing, and in return, I get more reviews, ideas, and friends than I ever expected."

"Aw, that's so touching."

"And like I said," EC continued, "the year will go by so quickly, like the breeze of a passing wind."

Suddenly, EC's OC, Marcus Sucram, came in through another door. "Did someone just say, 'passing wind'?" he asked, smiling a bit.

"Please!" EC exclaimed, getting down on his knees, "I beg you! Have mercy, and DON'T GO THERE! This is supposed to be rated K+!"

"Way to break the fourth wall…" Sword muttered under gritted teeth, sweat-dropping.

Marcus blinked a few times. "Okaaay? I'll be leaving now…I guess?"

When Marcus left, EC got back up and laughed. "I'm sorry, but that was good!"

Sword chuckled as well. "Well, I'm glad you're happy. I did the best I could, and I think I did pretty well."

"You did indeed!" EC answered, "This is one birthday I will never, EVER forget. Thanks a lot."

"No problem." Sword said, smiling and crossing his arms. "Unfortunately, it's time for us to part now."

"What? Already?" EC asked, turning around to look at the clock on the wall. The clock read that it was past noontime, and the two of them were pretty hungry after the fight.

"I guess it really is time to go." EC said, shaking paws with Sword again. "Thanks again for the…unusual gift."

"It was my pleasure."

The EC gestured to an open space and a blue door magically drew itself into place. It solidified and opened by itself, and it seemed to be waiting for the Lucario to enter. Sword made his own door and was about to enter, but he turned around at the last second. "EC?" he asked.

"Yeah?" EC asked, turning around to face the zoroark. "What is it?"

"The other authors and I say thanks and Happy Birthday." Sword replied, smiling wider than before.

The Lucario smiled wider than Sword and bowed. "Thank you, Sword. Tell everyone else I said thanks. You don't know how much this means to me. I guess I will see you next time."

"That I will." Sword said, waving a little. "Now, like you said as a signature for me, gotta split!"

With that, the two authors entered their respective doors and exited the arena. Sword left to his own studio, while EC went to his own.

**-Ask the Characters studio-**

"Huh?" one of the people standing at a door said. Sword's door appeared nearby, opening and letting the zoroark through.

"Hey, who are you?" the female questioned, raising a rifle.

"Easy Natasha, it's me." Sword said, putting his hands up in a surrendering position.

"Sword?" a victini asked, not believing it.

"Yeah Lucas, its me."

"**How did you become a zoroark?**" a genesect questioned.

"Well…It was the Element Commander's birthday. Challenged him to a spar with those smoke-blades I made and it ended in a draw. Don't worry though, this is only temporary. It'll wear off in the middle of the night." Sword explained, moving past the group and heading for his room.

**-Reviews to the Smashers studio-**

EC found himself in his Reviews to the Smashers studio. It was quiet, and most of the lights were off at the moment. He sat down at his own chair, thinking about the events that happened today. He was very grateful for the many friends he had in the Authors' Realm, and he thanked each and every one of them. If only he could give something back to them…

Getting an idea, EC the Lucario quickly jumped up from his seat and hooked up a camera. He pressed the record button, making himself in the middle of the shot.

"This is the Element Commander." he began, "Today is my fifteenth birthday. I want to thank each and every one of you for your constant support. I would give something back to all of you, but I think my best gifts to people are from the heart. So now, I thank each and every one of you, from the bottom of my heart."

-0-

**AS: ~whistles~ This as to be _the_ fastest one I have ever done. Finished it in less than two days after starting on the 22nd, the last day proof-reading it.**

**NC: … You're certainly getting better at this. I only had to fix one thing for you too! And even then it was just my nitpick about the é in pokémon.**

**AS: Thanks Nano.**

**EC: Well, shall we wrap this up?**

**AS: Yeah, I'm Aleron's Sword…**

**EC: And I'm The Element Commander…**

**And we'll see ya next time!**


End file.
